Can you advise me on selling a car that still has some finance owing on it

[whiteley]

Can I sell my car if I bought it on finance and have't paid it off?

[JoeP]

I seem to remember that this is frowned upon, as you're not the owner, just teh keeper of the car.

 

You can't sell on the debt - I think you'd have to settle it first, then sell. Whether your finance company would have something in place to allow this to be done withut you having to pay them until you get paid, I'm not sure.

[Cyclone]

You can probably p/x it on the basis that the garage will settle the finance.

Selling it privately would probably not be possible though.

[Darbees]

Can I sell my car if I bought it on finance and have't paid it off?

Theoretically you can't because the finance company still owns part of the car. A buyer should check it out with http://www.HPIcheck.com.and they will find that a finance company has an interest in it. If they buy the car and you renege on the payments it might get repossessed and the buyer will have no recourse to anyone.

 

You need to get a settlement figure from the finance company and pay it off. If that is awkward and you need the money from the buyer to pay it you may be able to make an arrangement with the buyer to pay the money owed direct to the finance company and the balance to yourself. The finance company will then issue a certificate to say that they no longer have an interest in it. Bit of trust needed there. If you are selling to a garage or trading it in against something else the garage will sort that out for you.

[DaBouncer]

I once bought a vehicle which I was not aware had finance attached to it.

The finance company had about £13,000 in debt attached to the car and it didn't come to light until after I sold it.

 

It got flagged up when someone performed a HPI check on the vehicle when the next owner was selling it.

Nothing came back to me but it demonstrates it would be possible to sell the car but the new "owner" wouldn't actually be the "owner" until the debt was settled.

[mifsit]

if you sell the car for more than the outstanding finance you could negotiate with the buyer for he / she to pay the finance off directly and pay you the balance once you have confirmation the car has been paid off. make sure they send a proper bankers draft (ask to see it and get your bank to check it), not just a cheque to the finance co and it should be ok.

[zippy]

I seem to remember that this is frowned upon, as you're not the owner, just teh keeper of the car.

 

You can't sell on the debt - I think you'd have to settle it first, then sell. Whether your finance company would have something in place to allow this to be done withut you having to pay them until you get paid, I'm not sure.

 

 

if it;s brought on 'hire purchase' you aren't the owner - if it;s on a Personal contract hire plan it's again an issue becasue you don't own the car until you pay the big 'final payment' ( which the car manufacturer doesn't want you to do - they want you to trade it in for a new car on another PCP)

 

if it;s brought on an unsecured loan - fill your boots

 

if the loan is secured on thecar here lies the problem - you own the car but the finance people have a claim on it ( like mortgages and houses)

[Darbees]

if it;s brought on 'hire purchase' you aren't the owner - if it;s on a Personal contract hire plan it's again an issue becasue you don't own the car until you pay the big 'final payment' ( which the car manufacturer doesn't want you to do - they want you to trade it in for a new car on another PCP)

 

if it;s brought on an unsecured loan - fill your boots

 

if the loan is secured on thecar here lies the problem - you own the car but the finance people have a claim on it ( like mortgages and houses)

With HP the finance company can't repossess the car if more than a third of the total has been paid without a court order. If more than half has been paid they won't get a court order for the car but will get it for the money.